The present disclosure relates generally to electrically isolating angle of attack vanes. More particularly, this disclosure relates to electrically isolating the bearings of angle of attack vanes.
Angular measurement devices, such as angle of attack (AOA) and side slip angle (SSA) vanes, project from an aircraft body and are free to rotate and align with the prevailing airflow. The angular measurement vane rotates with the prevailing airflow and provides such rotational information to electronics within the aircraft. The trajectory of the aircraft and the degree of rotation of the angular measurement vane is used to calculate the angle of attack or the side slip angle of the aircraft, and such information is provided to the cockpit and to relevant systems on the aircraft.
Angular measurement vanes project outside of the aircraft and into the prevailing airflow. Typically, a shaft extends into the aircraft body from the angular measurement vane and into an electronics enclosure, where electronics measure the rotational displacement of the shaft. Bearings rotatably support the shaft relative to mounting hardware, which mounting hardware is secured to the body of the aircraft. The shaft is thus free to rotate relative to the mounting hardware such that the angular measurement vane is free to rotate with the prevailing airflow. The angular measurement vane, shaft, bearings, and mounting hardware are typically metallic, and the vane and mounting hardware are exposed to the environment, and as such, are particularly susceptible to lightning strikes. The electrical current from a lightning strike on the vane, mounting hardware, or other locations on the aircraft body can pass through the bearings of the angular measurement vane. The large electrical current generated by a lightning strike, which can exceed 130 kilovolts, arcs through the bearings of the angular measurement vane and can cause fluting damage, which can lead to rough or stiff bearing failures.